Combined roof bevel and miter.



Mag-km J. M. BRAGG. COMBINED ROOF BEVEL AND MITER. APPLICATION FILED113N326, 1909.

996,451, Patented June '27, 1911. I I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l l I WITNESSES:

sea/Mid THE umzms PETERS C0 wasnmarou, o. c

J. M. BRAGG. COMBINED ROOF BEVEL AND MITER. APPLICATION FILED JUN 26,1909.

Patented June 27, 1911.

I 2 SHEETB-SHEET 2.

IN VEN TOR.

WITNESSES:

' pin JAMES MERRICK .BRAGG, OF EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

COMBINED ROOF BEVEL AND MITER.

Application filed June 26, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES MERRIGK BRAGG, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of East Hartford, in the county of Hartford andState of Connecticut, have in vented a new and Improved Combined RoofBevel and Miter, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of tools used for marking timber orother pieces to be cut to form a joint, and the object of the inventionamong others is to provide a tool of this class with which the settingof the parts to produce a given angle will also of necessity arrangethem to produce other angles required on the same piece.

A form of tool in the use of which the objects sought may be attained isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a planview of my improved tool. Fig. 2 is a view of the reverse side of thetool. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the cross-cut or faceblade. Fig. 4: is a like view of the reverse side of this blade. Fig. 5is a view showing the tool applied to a piece of timber inproducing theplumb or vertical bevel. Fig. 6 is alike view showing the tool with theparts arranged as in Fig. l but properly applied to the same piece oftimber in producing the face or cross-cut bevel.

My improved tool while not limited in its use in determining the anglesor bevels with respect to any special class of work, is peculiarlyapplicable for use in finding the angles or bevels in roof timbers, andis so constructed that when the parts are set to indicate a given angleor bevel it may,without changing the arrangement of parts, be employedto determine other angles or bevels on the same piece of timber. Forinstance, in the cutting of jack rafters two bevels are required at oneend of the rafter, one of which is known as the plumb cut or bevel andthe other the face or cross-cut bevel. When the tool is set to indicateone of these bevels by the use of one of the blades the same arrangementwith the use of another blade may be employed to determine other bevelsat the same end of the timber.

It is common practice in the construction of roofs to determine thedifferent bevels by mathematical calculation, and this requiresconsiderable knowledge and experience on the part of the one laying outthe structure. By the use of my improvedtool little knowl- Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented June 27, 1911.

Serial No. 504,495.

edge or experience is required, it only being necessary to know the riseof the roof or the timbers to be cut and then by setting the parts withrespect to the graduations denoting the rise the different angles may bedetermined in the ordinary manner of use of a miter or bevel.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 1O denotes the stock or handleof the tool that is composed of any desired mate rial, preferably wood,of considerable thick ness, 11 the plumb or main blade, 12 the face orcross cut blade and 13 the bottom or seat blade. The names have beenapplied to the different blades as indicating the uses to which they areput and it will be noted that the plumb blade and the bottom or seatblade have the arrangement of a common square and may be graduated as iscommon in tools of this class. The stock is pivoted as at 14 to theplumb blade and has a slot extending from this pivoted end Within whichare located the plumb and cross-cut or face blades, the latter extendingthrough the stock. The cross-cut or face blade'12 is pivoted as at 15 tothe bottom or seat blade 13 and as hereinbefore described extendsthrough the slot 16 in the stock. A stud 17 extends across the slot 16and through an adjusting slot 18 in the face blade. This slot is ofcurved form and is so constructed that when the edge of the stockregisters with one of; the marks of either of the tables on each side ofthe slot the parts will be so arranged that the different bevels desiredmay be found. The table 19 at one side of the slot is arranged inconnection with the graduations to denote both the rise of commonrafters and the length of rafter which will be required for eachhorizontal foot. That is, the graduation at which the stock shall be setto prop erly determine the angles of a common rafter having a rise ofone inch to each horizontal foot bears the numeral 1 indicating the riseand under the line a decimal indicating the length of such a rafter toeach horizontal foot. The table 20 is similarly arranged to denote therise of hips and valleys, while the table 21 on the reverse side of theblade has a similar arrangement to indicate the rise of octagon hips,and the table to indicate the rise of octagon jack rafters.

When it is required to produce the bevel cuts on a common rafter, therise of the roof or of the rafter being known, the edge of the stock isset to register with the graduation denoting such rise. For instance,suppose it is desired to cut the bevels on a jack rafter, the rise ofthe roof or common rafter being three inches per horizontal foot, theedge of the stock is set to register with the graduation bearing themark 3 in the table 19, shown in Fig. 3. The tool being now applied tothe timber, as shown in Fig. 5 and a mark made along the edge of theplumb blade, the proper bevel for the vertical cut of the rafter isindicated. By now changing the position of the parts, and applying it tothe timber as shown in Fig. 6, the edge of the cross-cut or face blademay be used to determine the proper bevel for the face or cross-cut ofthe rafter.

The proper bevel for the seat or horizontal cut of the rafter may befound with the tool without changing the arrangement of the parts byapplying the tool to the timber at the opposite end and describing thevertical bevel. By now placing the outer edge of the plumb blade toregister with this plumb bevel the outer edge of the bottom or seatblade will be properly located to indicate the bottom or seat cut forthe rafter. By using the different tables the proper bevels may be foundfor the common rafters, for octagon hip rafters, for hip or valleyrafters, and for indicating such cross-cut as may be required.

In the use of the tool for determining the bevels for jack rafters inoctagon construction the blade 12 is pivoted in the opening 22 providedfor this purpose and the tool then used as before described, thegraduations of the tables 21 and 30 being made use of.

A bisecting blade 23 is arranged for attachment to the tool, this bladehaving a slot 24 arranged to receive a stud 25. One end of the bladewhen arranged for use is pivotedon the pin 26 and the blade extendsthrough the slot 16 in the stock to receive: the stud or pin 25. When inthis position, no matter what the relation may be of the stock and theplumb blade 11. by moving the tool to the point of the angle describedby the stock and the main blade and with the stock located against theedge of the piece upon which this angle has been indicated, this bladewill be found to bisect this angle. This adapts the tool for ready usein determining miters after the parts have been set at the anglerequired corresponding to the angle of the parts on which the miter isto be indicated.

While I have shown and described herein a satisfactory arrangement andconstruction of parts to produce the required results, I do not confineor limit my invention to such arrangement, as it may be departed from toa greater or lesser extent without avoiding the invention. In likemanner and without change of parts the proper bevels for backing offhips and valleys may be found by the use of the tool.

When the use of the b-isecting blade is not required it may be affixedto the stock 10 by passing the studs 14 and 17 through the slot 23, thussecuring the bisecting blade in an out-of-the-way position along thestock. 7

I claim 1. A plumb blade, a support rigidly connected with the plumbblade, a stock pivotally attached to the plumb blade, a cross cut bladepivotally secured to said support and extending across said stock, oneof said parts having indicating means to denote an angular position ofthe stock with respect to the plumb blade, means for movably connectingthe cross cut blade and stock, one of said members (cross cut blade orstock) having means formed to cooperate with said connecting means toautomatically determine the proper angular position of the cross cutblade and stock to correspond with the angle between the plumb blade andstock to produce different plumb cuts and the proper cross cut for eachof said plumb cuts.

2. A plumb blade, a stock pivotally attached thereto, a support rigidlyconnected with the plumb blade, a cross cut blade movably connected withthe support and projecting across said stock, one of said parts (crosscut blade or stock) having means to indicate the angular position of thestock for the production of a proper angle for a plumb cut, a movablepivotal connection between said cross cut blade and stock, one of whichparts has means to cooperate with said connection to automaticallydetermine the angular position of the cross cut blade with respect tothe stock to produce the proper cross cut to correspond with the plumbcut with the part-s in fixed relative position.

3. A carpenters square, a stock pivotally attached to one arm of thesquare and having a slot, a cross cut blade pivotally attached to theother arm of the square and projecting through the slot in the stock,said cross cut blade having a slot, a pin secured to the stock andprojecting into the slot in the cross cut blade, which slot is formed toangularly position the cross cut blade with respect to the stock toindicate a proper cross cut and a certain plumb cut to correspondtherewith without intervening change in the adjustment of parts andmeans for clamping the parts together.

4. A stock and a connected main blade arranged to indicate differentangles, a bisecting blade attached to the main blade and movablelongitudinally at its pivot and movably engaged with the stock, andpivotalattachments for said blade and stock so arranged that thebisecting blade may serve to determine an angle equal to half thatbetween the main blade and stock in every position of the latter twoparts.

5. A stock, a plumb blade to which the stock is pivotally attached, aseat blade arranged at a right angle to the plumb blade, a cross cutblade pivotally attached to the seat blade, the pivots of said cross cutblade and stock being located equi-distant from the vertex of the angleof the two blades, and the cross cut blade and stock engaging one withthe other and having indicating means arranged to determine the relativeposition of said parts to indicate different plumb cuts and the propercross cut for each of said plumb cuts without intervening change in therelative adjustment of the parts. I

6. A main blade having a supplemental blade rigidly secured at an anglethereto, a stock attached to said main blade to indicate differentangles between said stock and main blade, a bisecting blade pivotallyattached to the blades at the junction between the two blades andmovably engaging said stock, and a pivotal connection for said stock toone of said blades (main or supplemental) so arranged that the bisectingblade may serve to determine an angle equal to half that between thestock and main blade with the latter in any position.

7. A stock having a slot, a plumb blade to which the stock is pivotallyattached, a cross cut blade pivotally connected with the plumb blade andextending through the slot in said stock, means for movably engaging thecross cut blade with said stock within the slot, and a bisecting bladepassing through said slot in the stock to movably engage the latter, anda pivot for the bisecting blade so arranged that the bisecting blade mayserve to determine an angle equal to half that between the stock and themain blade.

8. A main blade, a stock pivotally attached to the main blade, abisecting blade pivotally connected to the main blade and movablyengaging the stock, a cross cut blade pivotally connected with the mainblade and movably engaging said stock, and means on said stock forattachment of the bisecting blade when not in use.

JAMES MERRICK BRAGG. lVitnesses:

ARTHUR B. JENKINS, LENA E. BERKOVITOH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

